Keith Sinclair
Senior Member
Most Laysan Albatross are on Midway and Laysan Island. Chicks are under pressure on Midway because they eat chips of lead based paint from old Navy buildings. A major cleanup might not happen now. The female lays one egg both parents incubate and mate for life.
There is a colony on Oahu at Kaena point a protected reserve. DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) Wildlife managers are one of the most understaffed departments in Hawaii.
In December 2015 just over a year ago 18 year old Christian Gutierrez on break from first semester at New York University and couple of his Punahou school buddies (One of the most expensive private schools in Hawaii) were camping out at Kaena Point. They went into the restricted nesting area and killed 15 adult birds, destroyed 17 nest crushing eggs. They also destroyed and stole cameras that monitored the nesting area.
DLNR says that the Laysan Albatross population at Kaena suffered loses that go far beyond the initial death toll.
A couple days ago Gutierrez(Still a student at New York University) and his high profile defense lawyer Myles Breiner got a sweet testimony plea deal that requires him to testify against his former schoolmates. At first he was facing felony theft and 15 counts of animal cruelty. It was reduced to misdemeanors or petty misdemeanors. Breiner however asked the court to defer the no contest pleas to give Gutierrez an opportunity to avoid conviction. The Judge will decide his fate when he returns for his summer break.
The DLNR released a statement after reading about the deal in the newspaper. They expressed concern about the message such a deal sends to the public regarding protections for endangered wildlife. The crime is absolutely heinous said Case of DLNR in a statement released friday . It combines appalling animal cruelty with long lasting devastation of a breeding population of vulnerable and protected majestic sea-birds.
I wonder what would happen to an idiot in China if he went up and killed a family of giant pandas. In America if you have money and can afford a good defense lawyer you might get off with a slap on the wrist.
DLNR found out
There is a colony on Oahu at Kaena point a protected reserve. DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) Wildlife managers are one of the most understaffed departments in Hawaii.
In December 2015 just over a year ago 18 year old Christian Gutierrez on break from first semester at New York University and couple of his Punahou school buddies (One of the most expensive private schools in Hawaii) were camping out at Kaena Point. They went into the restricted nesting area and killed 15 adult birds, destroyed 17 nest crushing eggs. They also destroyed and stole cameras that monitored the nesting area.
DLNR says that the Laysan Albatross population at Kaena suffered loses that go far beyond the initial death toll.
A couple days ago Gutierrez(Still a student at New York University) and his high profile defense lawyer Myles Breiner got a sweet testimony plea deal that requires him to testify against his former schoolmates. At first he was facing felony theft and 15 counts of animal cruelty. It was reduced to misdemeanors or petty misdemeanors. Breiner however asked the court to defer the no contest pleas to give Gutierrez an opportunity to avoid conviction. The Judge will decide his fate when he returns for his summer break.
The DLNR released a statement after reading about the deal in the newspaper. They expressed concern about the message such a deal sends to the public regarding protections for endangered wildlife. The crime is absolutely heinous said Case of DLNR in a statement released friday . It combines appalling animal cruelty with long lasting devastation of a breeding population of vulnerable and protected majestic sea-birds.
I wonder what would happen to an idiot in China if he went up and killed a family of giant pandas. In America if you have money and can afford a good defense lawyer you might get off with a slap on the wrist.
DLNR found out
